The Nation Newspaper

Tag: urged

  • Court urged to stop move to replace Jega

    Court urged to stop move to replace Jega

    THE Federal High Court in Abuja has been asked to restrain the Senate from considering any person nominated by the Presidency to replace the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega.

    The request formed part of the three prayers contained in a suit filed by a lawyer, Kabir Akingbolu, with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Senate as defendants.

    He argued that the alleged plot by the Presidency to use the Head of Civil Service of the Federation to compel Jega to proceed on a three-month pre-retirement leave was absurd because the INEC Chairman was not a civil servant by virtue of the provisions of Sections 153, 155 and 157 of the Constitution.

    Akingbolu urged the court to among others determine whether, by the combined effect of sections 157 and 158 of the Constitution, the alleged plan by the Head of Service to request the INEC Chairman to proceed on terminal leave was not incongruous with the intention of the provisions of the constitution.

    He is also seeking the determination of whether Jega, who is currently on a sabbatical leave, could be asked to proceed on the pre-retirement leave envisage under the Civil Service Rules.

    Although the plaintiff has served the defendants, the suit filed on March 11 is yet to be assigned to any judge for consideration.

    Also, the INEC has appealed the March 4, 2015 judgment by Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordering it to issue a certificate of registration to a group, the Young Democratic Party (YDP).

    YDP had, shortly after the judgment, addressed news conferences,  where it threatened to compel a postponement of the rescheduled elections if INEC failed to include its name and candidates on the ballot papers, even when it was yet to conduct primaries and the period for parties to submit list of candidates had lapsed.

    In a notice of appeal it filed last Monday, INEC faulted Justice Mohammed’s judgment and urged the Court of Appeal, Abuja to set it aside.

    It raised five grounds of appeal, including that the trial judge erred in granting audience to a group not yet registered as a party.

    The application is expected to be heard on March 23.

  • ICAN urged to implement electoral panel’s proposals

    ICAN urged to implement electoral panel’s proposals

    A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Sola Oyetayo, has urged the institute to implement the recommendations of the Electoral Matters Special Investigation Panel.

    The panel had called for the cancellation of ICAN’s election held last May.

    It said a fresh election should be conducted as soon as it was practicable while none of the 28 contestants should remain on the council, until the new poll is held.

    Oyatayo said about 300 members of the institute have called on the president/chairman of council to convene a special general meeting to consider and adopt the recommendations after it was found that the council allegedly rejected them.

    The issues at stake, he said, include fraud and identity theft; what to do with results of the elections; what to do with the IT personnel who aided the fraud; revamping the electoral process, among others.

    The special panel’s report, which was submitted to ICAN’s council on December 1, concluded that there was sufficient evidence that the voters’ list was grossly compromised and the allegation of massive fraud was proved beyond reasonable doubt.

    It also found that cyber-crime was committed in the election, and a number of innocent ICAN members were victims of identity theft.

    “Over 80 per cent of the fraudulent votes were credited to the nine winners. Ironically, the ICAN rules that all voters must vote for all vacant seats made it impossible to separate the innocent candidates from the dishonest ones,” the panel said.

    It added that it was apparent that the electoral fraud was carried out by workers in the IT department at the instigation of some ICAN members who stood to benefit.

    It said from the forensic auditor’s report, 1,191 fake voters cast 10,719 votes, representing 21.884 per cent of 49,068 votes cast.

    Among its recommendations was that work must begin immediately to compile a new voters’ list “as the existing one has been extensively compromised”.

    The panel said: “If the electoral process can be grossly compromised, other sections in the IT department might also have been compromised. We are particularly concerned about the examination process where the stakes are by far higher. Therefore, the entire IT personnel should be cleaned out and the department sanitised.

    “In the circumstance, the institute should immediately engage one of the big firms with a strong IT department to review the electoral process, and possibly temporarily take over the running of the IT department until credible workers are recruited.

    “Discreet enquiries should be made from law enforcement agencies, if it is possible, to unmask the ICAN members involved in this destructive act so that proper disciplinary actions can be carried out against them in accordance with the ICAN Act.

    “ICAN electoral rules should be revisited in the light of what has been revealed in this and earlier investigations in order to re-establish members’ trust in the electoral process.”

    Investigation of the fraud was prompted by Oyetayo’s first memo in which he alleged, among others, that the institute’s system was hacked into and that qualified members were impersonated after their PIN numbers were fraudulently obtained.

    Oyetayo said the 2015 council elections could not be conducted peacefully and credibly without resolving the critical issues arising from the 2014 election.

    On ICAN’s electoral process, he said: “I strongly believe that the first thing to do is to discard the idea of group voting as it not only promotes mediocrity and brings division of council along ethnic and religious lines. It is also unconstitutional because it negates the principles of fundamental human rights.”

  • Customs urged to reduce cost

    A maritimelawyer,Osuala Emmanuel Nwagbara, has urged the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to implement Article 20 of its Act to reduce the cost of doing business at the ports.

    Delivering a paper titled: “Towards A New Port Order: The Journey So Far- A Lawyer’s Perspective”, at a forum organised by the Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS) , Nwagbara said there was need for Nigeria to implement the provisions of Act No. 20 in the spirit of trade facilitation among the World Trade Organisation (WTO) member countries

    He urged the NCS to repeal the benchmark method of valuation as well as all arbitrary value method of arriving at the duty payable on imports to attract more business.

    Nwagbara said  the idea of using arbitrary, or fictitious valuation methods run contrary to the provisions of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to which Nigeria is a signatory.

    He said the Customs and Excise Management (Amendment) Act No. 20 of 2003, provided that Customs duty should be determined sequentially by reference to six methods, which include; transaction method, identical method, similar value method, computed method, deductive method and fall back method, wondering why the Service would not conform itself to these six as stipulated.

    “The simple explanation of the provisions of Act No. 20 of 2003 is that duty on imported goods shall be based on value stated by the seller on the seller’s invoice and such invoice is usually authenticated by the exporting countries’ Chamber of Commerce. This is the meaning of method one,” he said.

    He said where there is good reason to doubt the veracity of the value stated on the invoice of the seller, then recourse should be made to the value of identical goods from same country of import, of same quantity, within a maximum time lag of three months,  all in a bid to determine value so as to have the appropriate customs duty charged on the imports.

    This sequential method, he said, should continue where applicable until the last method is attained. He wondered why  the Nigeria Customs Service at the moment uses what may be described as “Benchmark method of valuation” of import or arbitrary method in order to arrive at the duty payable on such import.

    He explained that “ all that was done in many cases was to allot particular type of import of particular packing unit without reference to the invoice value of the seller from the country of import.  “So, every container is assessed  at the same value or the Nigerian Customs Service man may just apply his discretion as to what he feels the value of a particular import should be and then base the duty assessment on that discretion value,” he said.

    This valuation method, he argued, is arbitrary or fictitious and runs contrary to the provisions of Article VII of GATT, saying it “adds to the high cost of doing business in our ports”. He stated that there is need for Nigeria to implement the provisions of Act No. 20 in the spirit of trade facilitation among WTO member countries.

    Nwagbara decried the practice by Customs officials to employ every  instrument to frustrate genuine complaint of over-assessment by the NCS in matters of valuation, describing it as a denial of port users’ access to justice.

    He said Paragraph 13 of the 1st Schedule to the Act No. 20, 2003 , which  made the Comptroller-General of Customs a semi-final authority to adjudicate on all disagreements on  valuation before a dissatisfied party would approach the court, envisaged that disagreement over assessment to Duty was a civil disagreement. According to him, it should be settled. He, however, regretted that  the  Service frustrates the procedure. “Once an assessment is done, it is take it or leave,” he said.

    He continued: “All forms of chicanery would be employed to frustrate genuine complaints of over assessment to duty, beginning from delay in attending to the complaint, to subtle threat of declaring the affected overtime cargo, with the unpleasant consequence of being lost to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

    This, he said, encourages corruption in the system apart from restricting the affected port user’s  access to Justice. “Nigeria is a member of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), which is the technical arm of WTO on trade facilitation,” he said.

  • Govt urged to reposition agro export to boost foreign earnings

    Stakeholders in the agricultural sector have urged the government to reposition agro export sector to promote economic growth and drive employment generation.

    In  a communiqué  issued at the end of a one-day workshop on  Agricultural Produce  Export organised  the Lagos State Agric Development Authority(LSADA), in Lagos, the stakeholders noted  that  there  are  increasing opportunities within agribusiness and  that  diversifying  of agro  commodities  would  generate export revenues.

    The stakeholders consist of  representatives of the Federal Ministry of  Agriculture and Rural Development, LSADA,Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), National  Agency for Food  and  Drugs Administration and Control(NAFDAC), Bank of Industry(BoI), Bank of Agriculture(BoA),Accion Micro  Finance Bank, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Company(NAIC),exporters  and  farmers.

    The workshop noted that  investment is vital for the development of agro-industry since such activities require high levels of technical capacity, links to markets and knowledge of market requirements.

    According to the workshop, increased investment in transportation and other infrastructure could help the sector diversify and to integrate their production vertically to encourage agro-industry. Any expansion in processing may have the effect of increasing the well-being of the people employed in the sector, providing higher wage jobs, and producing a higher-value product for exports.

    The  workshop  noted  that market integration is necessary   as there  opportunities for further development of  agro  exports and introduction of higher-value products.

    The  workshop reiterated  the natural  export  advantages that Lagos has and exporters  and farmers  can  utilise  them  to generate foreign exchange for  the country.

    The stakeholders also appreciated the determination of the Lagos State government to increase the production of higher value-added agricultural produce while continuing to produce popular commodities, fresh vegetables and fruits.

    The workshop recognised the efforts of the government through the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) to bring back agriculture to its rightful position and the collaboration of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council to facilitate agric export development.

     

  • Doctors’ strike: Fed Govt urged to engage mediators

    The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has advised the Federal Government to engage external mediators to resolve the crises between it and doctors in the public hospitals.

    The doctors, under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association, have been on strike for two weeks over failure by the government to meet their demands.

    Peeved by the doctors’ insistence on continuing with the strike after their negotiation team had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu had, during an interview with journalists in Abuja, called for a public debate with the doctors.

    He said: “That is why I said maybe we should have a high-powered debate before the public. Let each side state what their issues are, let’s take it one by one.”

    But the MDCAN President, Steve Oluwole, described the call for debate by the minister as a demonstration of frustration by the Federal Government. He said: “This is a novel proposal by the minister of health. It is of little use second-guessing while this unusual method of solving industrial dispute was proposed or contemplated. “The gallery of the public is unlikely to be sufficiently informed and grounded on the issues to play unbiased umpire between the minister and the NMA debater-in-chief. The theatre of debate may, however, not do either party much good.

    “While the frustration of the Ministry of Health in coming to a quick resolution of the problems is not difficult to perceive, it should not come to its wits end because of the decision of the delegate meeting of the NMA to continue with the strike,” he added.

    Oluwole noted that though the negotiating team of the NMA signed a MoU with government, the term of the agreement, according to him, was not acceptable to the majority of the doctors, which led to continuation of the strike. “There is, therefore, a very unfortunate impasse that is unlikely to resolve as long as both sides maintain their positions.

    Thus, a third MoU that will resolve differences appears a difficult objective to achieve,” Oluwole added.

    He therefore, advised that since the negotiation team had met twice without fruitful result, “bringing in external mediators may be helpful. Such mediators may include respected doctors who will bring their experience in administration and standing in the medical profession to bear on both sides. Without doubt, solution should be found within days not weeks for all sides to preserve their obligations to society.”

    Meanwhile, a fresh crisis is brewing in the primary healthcare sector where medical personnel are grumbling over alleged attempts to stagnate their professional growth at Level 16 as against Level 17 for others in the federal and state governments. The personnel argued that the ongoing review of the scheme of service for local government employees would put them at a disadvantage as it was skewed against doctors in the sector.

    In a statement by the Concerned Primary Health Care Physicians in Benin, the group said if the review was allowed to stay, it could discourage donor agencies, including UNICEF, WHO and others, from giving support to primary health care activities, especially as Nigeria is a signatory to the Alma-mata Declaration of Primary Health Care in 1978.

    “There is no evidence that the Federal Ministry of Health, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria and Association of Medical Officers of Health were consulted. In fact, the local government doctors were deliberately sidelined by the Local Government Service Commission and NULGE while other cadres like nurses and Community Health Practitioners Association were consulted,” they claimed.

  • Ila residents urged to collect PVCs

    THE Chairman of Re-Election Campaign Committee of Rauf Aregbesola for Ila Federal Constituency, Sunday Akere, has advised the people of Ila Local Government Council Area to collect their permanent voter cards (PVC) from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Akere, who spoke during a campaign visit to Edemosi, Ajaba, Oragun-Ejigbo and Alegbede, said with their voter cards in their hands, they would be able to participate in the August 9 governorship election.

    According to the committee chairman, who was accompanied by members of his team, Aregbesola is dedicated to improving the lots of the people, saying the only way to return him to office is through their votes.

    He urged the people in the communities visited by the campaign train to ensure they collect their permanent voter cards at INEC office, saying information at the committee’s disposal showed that the people were not collecting their voter cards.

    Akere further urged the people not to give up their cards for any inducement, alleging that some people were going round requesting voter cards from the electorate in exchange for financial assistance.

    He further charged the community leaders to always sensitise their people on the need to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying “it is the only party that caters for the development of the majority number of people.”

    He also urged the teeming masses at the various wards to ensure that the stay back at their various communities to vote for Governor Aregbesola and ensure that their votes count during the August 9 poll.

    The campaign chairman assured the people that Aregbesola would not only deliver on his electioneering promises as he has done during his first four years, but would ensure that “he do more to make Osun a paradise for its residents and indigenes.”

    In their separate responses, the Owajola-Kajola of Ajaba and the Edigbon of Edemosi, Oba Taiwo Adesoji Ayeni and Oba Adebisi Adeniran praised Aregbesola for his sterling performance.

  • Fed Govt urged to stop anti-workers’ activities

    The Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (CANMPSSA) has called on the Federal Government to ensure the enforcement of laws and regulations that will boost local manufacturing of drugs and discourage importation of fake drugs. The union also canvassed a level playing ground for effective competition amongst local manufacturers.

    President, CANMPSSA, Comrade Abdul Gafar Mohammed, who made the call at a press conference organised by the association, also stressed the need for Federal Government to put in place policies that would stop the unfair labour practices encountered by workers in the sector

    He said: “There is urgent need for government to ensure the enforcement of laws and regulations that would boost local manufacturing of drugs in the country by discouraging importation of fake drugs as well as ensure policies that would stop the unfair labour practices encountered by workers in the sector”

    According to Mohammed, there are prevalent unhealthy industrial practices in most companies in the sector that need the attention of the Federal Government for industrial peace to prevail

    “The prevalent unhealthy industrial practices in most of our member companies has given rise to a need for us to adopt a new strategy to effectively combat the high rise in unfair labour practices.

    “The problem of casualisation, outsourcing and termination of employment without fulfilling the procedures and, in most cases without the necessary financial entitlement must stop for peace to reign in the sector.

    “The right to unionise as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution, International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention as domesticated by laws are mostly trampled upon by some employers of labour in the sector”, he  said.

    Arguing that the struggle had been geared towards improving the welfare and well-being of the association’s members, Mohammed said: “We have various cases of undue harassment; intimidation and witch hunting of labour representatives and branch executives in order to intimidate them to abandon the struggle for emancipation of workers.

    “We call on the government to enforce policies that would ensure safe work place, decent work agenda, gender sensitivity, training and sustaining the right to freely associate in the sector.”

    The labour leader emphasised that government had not given all the important sector the due attention such as import waivers, tax relieves/exemptions, intervention funds.

    “We have very unpleasant government policies as relate to pharmaceutical industries as most of the industries are operating under poor road network, epileptic power supply, insecurity, high and unstable foreign exchange, unpredictable and very fluid financial situations general infrastructural decay that had added to the cost of production,” Mohammed said.

  • DPR urged to sanction erring marketers

    DPR urged to sanction erring marketers

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas  Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has urged the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to stop erring marketers who  hoard petroleum products.

    The Public Relations Officer, Seyi Gambo, said some marketers were either hoarding or diverting petrol to cause artificial scarcity, noting that the measure sometimes resulted in long queues at filling stations.

    He said regulatory bodies such as DPR,  saddled with inspect stations, should sanction erring marketers.

    “There is need for prompt and adequate monitoring of filling stations by the management of DPR to check abuses in petroleum distribution processes by some marketers.

    “The queues and artificial scarcity currently experienced at filling stations are caused by some dubious marketers who want to make money at all costs by hoarding the product.

    “Many filling stations are still selling petrol for between N110 and N120. This is against the normal pump price of N97 approved by the government.

    “DPR should re-strategise their operational monitoring of stations to curb abuse of power by these erring marketers,” he said.

    Gambo said to ensure adequate flow of petrol in the country, the government allocated the importation of petrol for the second quarter of the year.

    “The Federal Government has approved the release of the import allocations for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the private Oil Marketing and Trading (OM &T) companies for the second quarter of the year.”

     

    “With the arrangement, I don’t see reason why there should be queues or scarcity of petroleum products in the country,” Gambo added.

    He said if the government had fulfilled its obligation to the relevant agencies, they would make it their duty to bring to book any marketers that sold above the stipulated pump price.

  • Invest in commodities, pension funds firm urged

    IDLE pension funds can be invested in commodities trading, the Director, Africa Region, Cassava Adding Value for Africa (CAVA), Dr Kola Adebayo, has advised.

    Adebayo said there was the need to allow consumers to access commodities effortlessly.

    With the government showing determination to transform agriculture, Adebayo said international funds are important if the government is to strengthen sustainable farming and improve traceability in its supply chains.

    He noted that agriculture has not been the easiest place for small investors to access, explaining that it is a difficult class, reserved for investors who own farms or agricultural traders on one of the exchanges. But there are predictable outcomes that make the sector safe for pension investments, he added.

    But in recent years, he said investment houses and fund providers have launched vehicles to satisfy investors’ appetite for food-related portfolios.

    With the state of the market, he said there are opportunities for venture and pension funds, adding that there is enough money to contribute to rising prices, even if supply/demand fundamentals for some commodities, such as food items, do not justify the rise.

    The premise, he added, was that investors would seek to buy commodities on ideas that a growing population will need to eat, adding that interest in commodities is part of a move to diversify.

    Explaining the reasons for rise in food prices, Adebayo attributed it to bad weather and increasing demand.

    From a supply perspective, he said lack-lustre harvests as a result of bad weather, coupled with depleting production growth has meant that demand is not being met.

    Demand, he added, is affected by some long-term trends, a rising population and a change in consumption patterns.

    He advised pension funds to step up investments in commodity assets, such as commodity exchanges and some more diversification in growth assets, means more alternatives coming through.

    He suggested that pension funds make allocations to commodities that are forecast to show long-term growth based on rises in one population and in per capita commodities demand in emerging markets to the higher levels in the developed world.

  • Establish labs, graduands urged

    Establish labs, graduands urged

    Graduates of Science Laboratory Technology (SLT) need not stay without jobs after (DG) graduation, says Director-General/ Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT), Dr Ighodalo Ijagbone.

    Ijagbone spoke while inducting 65 SLT graduands of the University of Port Harcourt, advising them to make a foray into the unsaturated private practice market of the profession.

    The DG said opportunities abound for SLT professionals to set up private laboratories to offer services needed by various sector of the society.’

    The laboratories could help students carry out researches, analysis for people plants, water, soil and food (poisoning), research work for PhD students, investigation concerning pollution in the environment, forensic investigation and the like.

    Ijagbone, who trained as science laboratory technologist at the University of Ibadan and Paddington College, London, however, urged the graduands to pay attention to NISLT’s rules and regulations.

    He said: “As a professional equipped with diverse knowledge and skills in the field of science and technology, I wish to advise and encourage you to be entrepreneurial in your approach in efforts to engage yourselves professionally. One area that members of the profession have not keyed into fully is private practice. Private practice is the work of a professional practitioner like you who is self-employed. With particular reference to our profession, you can engage yourself profitably by setting up a laboratory with appropriate facilities and equipment to perform standard tests and investigations.

    “Let me, however, advise that any professional venture you embark on, you must get it registered and obtain appropriate licence to operate.

    You can get further details from the National Secretariat of the Institute in Ibadan. As laboratory scientists/technologists, it is necessary that you align your skills as well as core scientific and technical competences and training with the requirements and standards that are associated with Science and Technology delivery.”

    Ijagbone and the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Joseph Aijenka were honoured on the occasion by the School of Science Laboratory Technology (SSLT) of the university.